The Blog.

Step into Spring

It’s that magical time of year when the flowers start to bloom and the sun is showing its face more often. We aren’t quite there yet, it is only early March, but spring is most definitely in the air for

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Myth busting: Outdoor Learning Edition

Time and time again we hear the biggest barrier to regular outdoor learning in schools is rooted in a lack of staff confidence. Teachers often feel unprepared or too inexperienced to teach in an outdoor setting. There is a good

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Our Busiest Year Yet

It has been an action packed year for us at SOuL. Of course, it’s good for business, but more importantly it says a lot about current trends and the status of the outdoor learning agenda. We are getting more enquires

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The Case for School Uniform Reform

We’ve all heard the infamous outdoor learning quote, “there’s no such thing as bad weather, only unsuitable clothing,” or something like it. We have used it before in another blog and on our socials, it’s a fan favourite! Alfred Wainwright

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Natural Materials Make a Big Difference

If you’ve been following the SOuL journey for a while you’ll have noticed that we have a strong preference for natural materials and flow in our installations. We have good reason, beyond the fact that they look beautiful. Let’s have

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How to Develop Character in Your Pupils

What is character? We know that certain experiences are character building but why? We know that the character of our pupils has a massive impact on their outcomes in life yet how can we as teachers work with them and

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Outdoor classroom

A busy summer for SOuL installations

This summer has been especially busy for SOuL. There is a huge demand for outdoor classrooms, natural play spaces and character education learning spaces. We’ve also installed ponds, school allotments and more. Every time we visit a school or return

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Risky play at school in action

Risky Play at School

Let’s talk about risky play and opportunities for pupils to test limits at school. Many schools are turning their backs on conventional timber trail type designs as they lack challenge, tend to be quite uniform and conform to standardised designs

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Whittle Away A-Level Stress

  A-levels are stressful for most pupils. Imagine if there was a way to beat sixth form stress and get pupils outside. Well, the team at Bohunt Sixth Form in Liphook, Hampshire are doing just that.    The outdoor education

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Teachers training in an Eco Hub

Why Eco Hubs are the future?

  Eco Hubs are the future of outdoor learning spaces in schools. There, we said it! And here’s why. In the last year or two SOuL has installed several Eco Hubs of various sizes and styles in schools, and they

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Outdoor learning belongs on the curriculum

Simply put, outdoor learning belongs on the curriculum. It must be both embedded in all subjects, at all levels, and be implemented as its own stand-alone subject. This may sound like a daunting task to some, but we assure you

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Spotlight on Outdoor Learning – Outdoor Practitioner

Enjoy this interview with Gemma Hill-Davis, a free-roaming Outdoor Practitioner based in Cheshire in North West England. Gemma runs a small outdoor learning company called Camp Curiosity CIC and has just celebrated 6 months since launching the company and being self

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Blackberry picking

Finish the summer outdoors

Most of us are already more than halfway through the summer holidays. For some folks they have probably flown by and for others they may be dragging. Schools in Scotland might even be back in session by now. Either way,

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Outdoor Learning Ethos Won Over Ofsted

John Newton was the head of Barrow C of E Primary School from 2013-2021. In this time John steered the school away from closure to Ofsted Outstanding rating. He credits the school’s success to adopting an outdoor learning ethos to

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Shady Outdoor Learning

Outdoor Learning in Summer

We spend a lot of time thinking about how to manage outdoor teaching in the colder months, but what about outdoor learning in summer time? On one hand, it is more appealing to be outdoors in the warmer weather. On

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How to Develop Character in Your Pupils

Character education is crucial, and often missing from the curriculum, in our schools. It’s not a new concept, organisations like the Duke Of Edinburgh Award have been pushing the agenda for a while, but it’s certainly not regular headline news.

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A Renewed Commitment to Outdoor Learning

The first couple of weeks of January are too early to make changes for the year ahead, there are still leftover chocolates in the cupboard, the tree has only just come down and it takes time to get back into

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Talking Climate Change in the Classroom

On the back of the COP26 conference in Glasgow and the growing pressure on our leaders to bring about change to slow down the pace of climate change, your pupils are probably wondering what they can do to help. We

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Outdoor Clothing at School

We’ve all heard the phrase, “there’s no such thing as bad weather, only bad clothing,” or something else along those lines. It’s heard most on rainy or especially chilly days and it is true. With the right clothing and equipment

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Back to School, Back to Outdoor Learning

It’s been quite the year hasn’t it?! Everyone of us has a story (or two) about how the pandemic has affected our lives. There are good news stories of people helping one another and trying new things, as well as

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Children gardening

Gardening at School Benefits Everyone

There is immense value to a garden or allotment provision in both nursery and school settings. Gardening at school benefits everyone, from pupils to teachers to parents and even the wider community. The set up can be as basic or

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